‘tis the season to preach

‘Tis The SeasonTo Preach

Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?

ContributorID=&SermonID=152491

The minister gave his Sunday morning sermon, as usual, but this particular

Sunday, it was considerably longer than normal. Later, at the door, shaking hands

with church members as they left the service, one man said, “Your sermon was

simply wonderful - so invigorating and inspiring and refreshing.” The minister of course, broke out in a big smile, only to hear the man add, "Why I felt like a new

man when I woke up!"

I doubt you’ll get that refreshed after listening to my sermons! They aren’t long enough for you to reach that deep level of

sleep.GOD’S WORD CAN MAKE YOU FEEL

MOVED AND MOTIVATED! My sermons hopefully present God’s Word so it can motivate you to action for the Lord

in living the Christian life!

James 1:22 NET But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it

and so deceive yourselves. 23 For if someone merely listens to the message

and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. 24

For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person

he was.

25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there,

and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out — he will be blessed in

what he does.

Be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it!

It’s not enough just to hear God’s Word preached! We must take some action based

on what we hear. Otherwise, James is saying that going to church listening to

sermon and then doing nothing about it is like looking in a mirror. Then turning from the mirror & forgetting instantly your hair needed combed, your face is dirty, you

need a shave or beard trimmed.

What was accomplished when you looked in the mirror?

A healthy person looks in the mirror to do something, not just to admire the image. Even so, a healthy Christian looks into

God's word to do something about it, not just to store up facts that they won't use.

(Guzik)

James is saying when we listen to God’s Word, whether in a sermon or in personal

study, and see ourselves for what we really are....perhaps messed up somewhat

spiritually, then if we do nothing about it, never repent or make any changes in our

lives, then we are not pleasing to God because we haven’t done anything positive

to change the way we live!

So when I preach, my aim is not refreshment as much as it is repentance

and renewal!I’m reminded of the theme at the Kiamichi Men’s Clinic I attend ever May, “How can I

make my life count more effectively for Christ.”

Maybe we should ask ourselves that question before & after every sermon, Bible

study or reading of the Scriptures.

Christmas was finally over and the preacher’s wife dropped into an easy chair saying, "Boy! Am I ever tired." Her husband

looked over at her and said, "I had to preach two special services last night, three today, for a total of five sermons. Why are

you so tired?""Dear," she replied, "I had to listen to all of

them."

I’m sure that’s probably how Gayla feels! It’s a good thing I don’t preach more than

once on Sunday. Of course, she might say that I’m preaching all the time anyway: at

church, at home, etc. HEY, THAT’S NOT A BAD IDEA! In fact, I think we all need to be preaching Jesus all the time! He’s the best

and most important person we could be talking about to others, wouldn’t you say?

Matthew 10:7 NET As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is

near!'Jesus said to His disciples, “As you go,

preach!” Good advice for us today. As you go, wherever you go, preach the message

of Jesus! As you go to work, preach! As you go to buy groceries, preach! As you go to Wal-mart shopping, preach! As you go to

the bank, preach!

I’m saying that at this time of the year more people are thinking about Christ so we need to capitalize on this and preach about Jesus

every chance we get!Have you ever thought about what would happen if we preached Jesus or talked about Jesus everywhere we went? We

would turn some people on & turn some people off. If every Christian did this, just

imagine the converts we could make!

Have you talked to anybody lately about Jesus or the Christian life, the Christian

faith? If not, why not?

NOW’S THE TIME. Don’t wait.Do it now.

You might influence someone to become a Christian!

This is why God put us here.

In this sermon, let me suggest some ways to preach Jesus.

Preach Jesus IndividuallyPreach Jesus Publicly

Preach Jesus Impartially

Preach Jesus IndividuallyPreach Jesus personally, from you to

another person. From person to person. One on one. Here’s a story in Acts 8:26 NET Then an angel of the Lord said to

Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

(This is a desert road.)

27 So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of

Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come

to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home, sitting in his chariot,

reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this

chariot."

30 So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. He asked him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" 31 The man replied, "How in the world can

I, unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture the man

was reading was this:

"He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is

silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the

earth." (Isa 53:7-8)

34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, "Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about — himself or someone else?" 35 So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about

Jesus to him.

Philip had a captive audience. It was one on one as they were in that chariot together.

That’s like the passenger sitting next to you in your car. They are a captive audience.

Those kinds of situations are best for witnessing.

A preacher was in a local service station one day, visiting with a fishing friend and

several other guys. They were talking about bass fishing. The preacher told one guy

that any time he needed a fishing buddy, to give him a call and he would be glad to go

with him.

Knowing he was a preacher, he said, “You would just preach to me!” The preacher

said, “No.” But he thought if the opportunity came up he would witness for Jesus. The guy would have been a captive audience,

so why not?

Guess what? He declined the request. He never asked the preacher. He never called. The preacher guessed the guy figured he

would preach to him. However, the preacher did fish a few bass tournaments

and every guy he was paired with he would talk to him about the Lord when the

opportunity presented itself. And he never had one guy get mad at him. In fact, he met

a few Christian guys.

36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop

me from being baptized?" 37 (TEXT OMITTED) A few later MSS add, with minor variations, "He said to him, 'If you believe

with your whole heart, you may.' He replied, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of

God.' " (NETnotes)

38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 Now

when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but

went on his way rejoicing.When he preached Jesus to him, he

responded in a positive way. He said, “I believe in Jesus. Why can’t I be baptized?”

Many people say, “Why do I have to be baptized?” instead of

saying, “Why can’t I?” Baptism is an act of obedience that the Lord asks us to do. If we truly believe in Him and want Him as our Savior, why not do as He

asks?

Baptism is a very simple thing compared to many other things that Jesus asks us to do. And it’s only a one time thing, unlike most

things we are to do.In the past some preachers were pushing

the idea of “EACH 1, WIN 1.”

It’s the idea that each Christian should win another person to Christ.

Have you ever led someone to Christ, that is, to the point where they wanted to accept Christ, confess their faith and be baptized? Wouldn’t it be amazing if every Christian in

this world would do this? It is reported 2.1 billion people worldwide

claim to be Christians. The earth’s population is 7 billion. If every Christian won just one person to Christ there would be 4.2

billion Christians in this world!

When the new 2.1 billion Christians “EACH 1, WIN 1” the number jumps to 6.3

billion. That would be fantastic! God would be pleased!

Some Christians would win more than one person to Christ. So you can see how

converting the whole world is within reach.But sad to say, that probably won’t happen, because most Christians will never win one

person to Christ in their entire lifetime.

THINK ABOUT IT.Then begin to think about the person or

persons you could win to Christ and start praying for them. Then look for

opportunities to witness to them.

We all need to preach Jesus individually or one on one and as much as possible. ‘Tis the season to do this.

Preach Jesus Publicly Acts 20:20 NET You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming to you anything that

would be helpful, and from teaching you publicly and from house to house,

It’s the idea of: Don’t hide the gospel from people. Be out in the open about it. Preach

Jesus publicly and in every house.

There was a time when preachers preached on the street corner, but not much anymore.

It was more acceptable in years gone by. I’m not sure any preacher would get much

of hearing today preaching on a street corner. And in some cities in the US, he

might even get beat up!

Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899 - 62). He was more

commonly known as D. L. Moody. What a preacher he must have been! I don’t know if

he did much preaching on street corners but he could sure draw a crowd in the later

1800’s

His first city-wide crusade in America was in Brooklyn beginning October 31, 1875, at the Clermont Avenue Rink, seating 7,000.

Only non-church members could get admission tickets as 12,000 to 20,000 crowds were turned away. Over 2,000

converts resulted.

Next came Philadelphia starting on November 21 with nightly crowds of 12,000.

The Philadelphia crusade was held at the unused Pennsylvania freight depot which John Wanamaker had purchased. It was located at Tenth and Market. His ushers

were very well trained, capable of seating 1,000 people per minute, and vacating the premises of some 13,000 in 4 minutes if

needed.

The doors were opened one and a half hours early and in 10 minutes the 12,000 seats were taken. On January 19, 1876 President Grant and some of his cabinet

attended. Total attendance was 1,050,000 with 4,000 decisions for Christ.

(http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=82)

I would say that was public preaching of Jesus!

Today, if you have a revival meeting in a church you will hardly get a crowd. I hate to

say it, but most of the time you can’t get church members to attend, let alone non-

Christians. People just are not interested in the gospel. They have too many irons in the

fire. They are too busy. It’s been said that we are often too busy for our own spiritual

good! True for saints and sinners alike!

"Many churches report no new members on confession of faith.

Why these meager results with this tremendous expenditure of energy and

money? Why are so few people coming into the Kingdom? I will tell you—there is not a

definite effort put forth to persuade a definite person to receive a definite Savior at a definite time, and that definite time is

now." (Billy Sunday)

If there is no effort put forth to preach Jesus publicly or witness publicly then there will

no people coming to Christ and being saved.

BEING SAVED IS WHAT GOD WANTS PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE.

’Tis the season to preach Jesus publicly and from house to

house.

Preach Jesus ImpartiallyRomans 1:14 NET I am a debtor both to the

Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 Thus I am eager also to preach the gospel to you who are in

Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and

also to the Greek.

Don’t be particular about the people you preach to or witness to. Everyone needs to hear the message, both Jew and Gentile alike. It doesn’t make any difference who

the person is, all need Jesus.

Someone wrote: What’s the state of the states of the union? Let’s see ... New

Yorkers mock Southern drawls.

Southerners don’t cotton to West Coast hippies, who in turn can’t understand why Midwesterners live so far from the ocean

breeze. And Midwesterners? They wonder who could survive New York-the city that

never sleeps. Yes, the U.S.A. is one big, happy

dysfunctional family.

When a visitor to a town in Alabama spotted a dog attacking a boy, he grabbed the

animal and throttled it with his bare hands. An impressed reporter saw the incident and

told him the next day’s headline would scream,

"Valiant Local Man Saves Child by Killing Vicious Animal."

"I’m not from this town," said the hero. "Then," the reporter said, "it will say

‘Alabama Man Saves Child by Killing Dog.’"

"Actually," said the man, "I’m from New Hampshire.“

"In that case," the reporter grumbled, "the headline will be

‘Yankee Kills Family Pet.’"

While we might not like living in certain parts of the country or like the people who live in other parts of the country, we must realize that people are people and God

wants all people to be saved.

A man remembers going to Boston in 1989 to run the Boston marathon. While walking down the street he saw a man beating on a woman. They were yelling at one another and he was hitting her. He didn’t know if they were husband and wife or boyfriend

and girlfriend. He thought, “What a bunch of crazy people who live here!”

Also, while walking down the street a lady came up to him asking for money. She

almost fell on him and she appeared to be either drunk or high on drugs. He said,

“Sorry, I can’t help you.”But you know, as he looks back, he should

have helped her. Maybe not with cash, because you always wonder when you give money to some people they’ll just spend it

on drugs or booze.

But he should have done something, fed her if she was hungry. He should have said something to her about the Lord. He should have witnessed to her with some words and

showed her some kindness.We are not to be racists or prejudice,

because God is not. God wants all people to be saved, regardless of their race or

social level, etc.

A new family started attending a church. One lady said, “They’re not our class of people.” Meaning she looked down on

them. WRONG ATTITUDE.

BAD ATTITUDE.Preacher/author Carl Kectherside and his

wife, Nell, walked the inner city of St. Louis, talking to prostitutes and drug addicts about

Jesus.

2 Peter 3:9 NET The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard

slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish

but for all to come to repentance.

’Tis the season to preach Christ to all people!

Acts 10:42 NET He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of

the living and the dead.He commanded us to preach. We don’t

have any choice in this matter. It’s called the Great commission!

The same word (G4198 poreuomai por-yoo'-om-ahee) translated, As you go,… in

Matthew 10:7 NET is used in “The Great Commission.”

Mark 16:15 NET He said to them, "Go (as you go) into all the world and preach the

gospel to every creature. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but

the one who does not believe will be condemned.

Matthew 28:18 NET Then Jesus came up and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19

Therefore go and (as you go) make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey

everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end

of the age."

2 Timothy 4:2 NET Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete

patience and instruction. ’Tis the season to preach Jesus anywhere, everywhere and to

all people!